Bush invites NATO chief for some down-home diplomacy

CRAWFORD, TEXAS —  For foreign leaders doing business with President Bush, no invitation holds quite the cachet of a visit to his Prairie Chapel Ranch. And spending the night elevates the event even more.

That the NATO secretary-general, a Dutch politician with a predilection for running long distances and singing short cabaret classics, arrived here Sunday for some sleepover diplomacy illustrates the extent to which Bush is putting the spotlight on trans-Atlantic relationships in general and NATO in particular.

The visit by NATO leader Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, shortly after an overnight stay at the White House by departing British Prime Minister Tony Blair, kicks off an intense period of diplomacy for Bush.

A series of meetings here, in Washington and in Europe with key allies in coming weeks will cover Iraq, Afghanistan, the transition in Kosovo, expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and Bush’s effort to deploy missile defenses in Central and Eastern Europe.

Although Iraq is at the top of the list in many of the meetings, the variety of issues on the agenda suggests the breadth of unresolved problems facing Bush in Europe, where the president will visit for a week in early June. And with nearly 18 months to go until election day 2008, Bush is far from a lame duck in foreign affairs.

De Hoop Scheffer, 59, shares Bush’s interest in maintaining U.S.-NATO unity, particularly in the face of Russian objections to the missile defense plan. But there is growing uneasiness about the alliance’s role in Afghanistan, and there are questions about the European troop contribution there.

The president, in jeans and boots, drove up with Laura Bush in a white Ford pickup to meet the arriving helicopter. De Hoop Scheffer, in a double-breasted blue blazer and gray slacks, held the door for the first lady and his wife, Jeannine de Hoop Scheffer-van Oorschot, as they climbed into the back seat.

Bush’s display of hospitality at his home in Crawford, where he is spending the weekend, is a symbolic element in the president’s effort to counter growing tensions in Europe.

A rash of civilian deaths in Afghanistan has stirred new concern about the role of NATO troops there.

And Russian President Vladimir V. Putin said last month that in protest of the missile defense plan, Russia would suspend its observance of a treaty limiting the deployment of troops and conventional military equipment in Europe.

The Bush administration says the missile defense weapons, which would be deployed in Poland and the Czech Republic, are intended to protect the United States and its NATO partners from long-range Iranian missiles; Moscow argues they would threaten Russia’s strategic deterrent.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Bush and De Hoop Scheffer would hold a business-like meeting this morning. But the ranch setting, Fratto said, allowed informal discussions Sunday evening, when the leaders were joined by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and others for an upscale Texas-style dinner that included green-chile-cheese-grits souffle.

Asked why the NATO leader was getting star treatment, Fratto said, “The NATO mission is incredibly important to America’s security interests.” Fratto cited in particular the role of the 37,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan.

“European troops in Afghanistan have become a serious political issue with several European governments. They’re always under pressure, and more so with civilian deaths increasing,” said James Mann, author in residence at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.

But beyond that issue, Mann said, the hospitality the president is offering the NATO chief “shows the extent to which Bush, in the final years of his administration, is bending over backward to establish and underscore the administration’s relations with Europe.”

This is of particular importance, Mann said, “at a time when there are new leaders coming in” -- a reference to Nicolas Sarkozy replacing Jacques Chirac as president of France last week and, in coming weeks, Blair’s replacement by Gordon Brown -- and U.S.-European tensions over the now-ending tenure of Paul D. Wolfowitz as president of the World Bank.

james.gerstenzang @latimes.com